Stage

Holiday Triple Play

December offers three chances for Christmas spirit on stage

Lauren Fisher, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

play in the woods. The Eau Claire Children’s Theatre will bring A Little House Christmas to the stage this season, as it did in 2014 with the cast shown above.
play in the woods. The Eau Claire Children’s Theatre will bring A Little House Christmas to the stage this season, as it did in 2014 with the cast shown above.

Get the holiday hype up by attending some community theater productions of Christmas classics and new holiday favorites. The Menomonie Theater Guild, Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild, and Eau Claire Children’s Theatre are each producing wintry plays for families and children to enjoy.

The Eau Claire Children’s Theatre is bringing A Little House Christmas to the Oxford Theatre. Running Dec. 7 and 15 at 7:30pm and Dec. 8, 15, and 16 at 1:30pm, this play is based on stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder. When a natural disaster strikes, it appears that Santa won’t be able to make it to the Ingalls’ house in time for Christmas. Audience members of all ages will enjoy the familiar characters and northwoods spirit in this charming play. For ticket information, visit ecct.org.

Closed for the Holidays, produced by the Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild, follows a group of travelers stranded in a community center when bad weather shuts traffic down on Christmas Eve. The strangers, including a drama teacher with a pack of teens, a sheriff who’s too keen on sniffing out crime, and an old married couple, is bound to incite laughter and sympathy as they hope for a Christmas miracle. The show runs in the Grand Theatre Dec. 6-8 and 13-15 at 7:30pm, with matinees Dec. 9 and 16. Find tickets at pablocenter.org.

And let’s not forget the old staple: A Christmas Carol. The Menomonie Theater Guild opens the holiday theater season Nov. 30, with evening performances continuing into Dec. 1, 7, and 8 at 7:30pm and afternoon performances Dec. 1-2 and 8-9 at 2pm at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts in Menomonie. Watch as Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three familiar, spooky guests who teach an important lesson about kindness and charity. Tickets are available at menomonietheaterguild.org.